


Eager

by Ellessey



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Blind Date, First Meeting, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-09
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-10-30 00:02:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10864869
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellessey/pseuds/Ellessey
Summary: 'Daichi focuses on the direction of the entrance again, waiting for someone to come in with black hair and a red tie. These seem like really insufficient details to go on, now that he sees that fucking everyone here is wearing a tie. (Including him. Suga tied it for him.)He's just about to pull his phone back out and check the time, when he catches a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. A slim red tie, on a slim, tall man, and a set of dark, angled eyes that are scanning the tables until they land on Daichi.'--Daichi doubts Suga when his friend sets him up on a blind date, but once he meets Kuroo he realizes, as he has before and will again, that Suga is always right.





	Eager

**Author's Note:**

> For KuroDai Week 2017, Day 4: Blind Date

Daichi never should have agreed to this. He doesn’t even _like_ dating. It’s awkward and contrived, and restaurants like this one, with waiters who are better dressed than he’s ever been, are specifically designed to make people like him—people who are most at home in the park, or the gym—feel like giant imposters.

He jabs the button on his phone a little harder than necessary and pulls up his text conversation with his best friend, who is also the cause of his current discomfort.

 **Daichi:** suga wtf...this place is way too fancy  
**Daichi:** and he’s not here yet

 **Suga:** it’s not fancy, they just don’t serve happy meals   
**Suga:** and i told you you were leaving too early

 **Daichi:** is he this kind of person? why would you set me up with someone who likes places like this?

 **Suga:** i chose the place, you shit, because the food is excellent  
**Suga:** please stop complaining and have a little faith in me

 **Daichi:** literally all you do is give me reasons not to trust you

 **Suga:** that’s so unkind daichi ( ; ω ; )

 **Daichi:** tell me it’s not true

 **Suga:** Kuroo-san is going to be there soon, you should probably not be rudely focused on your phone

 **Daichi:** i thought you said i was too early...can’t be that soon

 **Suga:** daichi, put your phone away  
**Suga:** i love you and i hope you have a wonderful night  <3

 **Daichi:** ilu too...want me to bring you leftovers?

 **Suga:** yes please!!

Daichi pockets his phone and looks around the restaurant before focusing on the direction of the entrance again, waiting for someone to come in with black hair and a red tie. These seem like really insufficient details to go on, now that he sees that fucking everyone here is wearing a tie. (Including him. Suga tied it for him.)

He's just about to pull his phone back out and check the time, when he catches a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. A slim red tie, on a slim, tall man, and a set of dark, angled eyes that are scanning the tables until they land on Daichi.

He doesn't know what clues Suga gave Kuroo to identify him with, but they seem to have been effective. The man's lips curve up and he comes toward him, and Suga did _not_ say Kuroo was this tall. He’s definitely at least a couple inches taller than Daichi. Probably slightly more than a couple.

“Sawamura-san?” he asks.

“Hi, yeah,” Daichi says, getting to his feet. “You're Kuroo-san?”

“I am!” Kuroo says. “You been waiting long?”

“Ah, just a little,” Daichi says. “I was early though.”

Kuroo grins and Daichi’s stomach does something stupid and uncalled for, a weird little twist. It’s not even that great of a smile. It’s crooked and kind of predatory. But maybe that’s what did it.

“Eager, huh?” he says, folding his long limbs into the seat across from the one Daichi was sitting in.

Daichi raises an eyebrow and doesn’t reclaim his own seat. That’s not how this is going to go. Kuroo isn’t going to stride in here with his excessive height, call Daichi _eager,_ and then just settle down smugly like a king on his throne. He’s about to say something politely scathing, but Kuroo starts talking again before he gets a chance.

“I wanted to get here early too, but dude…can I be honest?”

“Uh…” Daichi no longer knows what his gameplan is. He just knows he feels stupid still standing here, and Kuroo just called him dude, and maybe he’s not quite the pretentious jackass Daichi was beginning to peg him as. “Sure?” he says, relenting and sitting down.

“Okay, so…I’ve never been on a blind date before, and I’ve always had this deep dark fear that if I ever went on one it would be like every tragic rom com scenario you’ve ever seen? But like, I wouldn’t be the protagonist, I’d just be one of the losers they get set up with. The one they see and then, like…panic-call their friend to get them out of it, you know?”

“Um…” Kuroo said all of that really fast, all with that charming smile, although Daichi’s not quite sure when it shifted from wolfish to charming. Maybe it’s both. “I don’t watch a lot of romantic comedies. Or…any, really. But…I’m not going to panic-call anyone.”

“Well of course you’re not. You’re someone who gets places early, which means you’re also someone who takes responsibility and courtesy seriously to a fault, and you wouldn’t walk out on a date even if you secretly thought he had really stupid hair.”

“That’s…really specific,” Daichi says.

“The hair, or your personality type? I’m right, aren’t I?”

“I guess so,” Daichi admits, even though Kuroo’s rightness is kind of annoying. “Your hair _is_ pretty stupid,” he adds.

Kuroo’s cat-eyes widen, his lips part. Daichi hasn’t even really looked at his hair, he just said it because there was a perfect opening for it, but now he’s wondering if he should very rapidly backtrack and apologize.

“Oh!” Kuroo says, and then his eyes narrow again, curving into happy lines. “Ohohoho! Sawamura is here to _play.”_

Daichi can’t help laughing at this unexpected, and honestly really attractive reaction. This is, he’ll admit, exactly the kind of person he likes to spend time with.

“I still don’t know why your weird rom-com fears kept you from being early,” he says.

“I told you!” Kuroo says. “I was trying so fucking—” he stops suddenly, eyes flicking around to the nearby tables, then continues with a much lower voice. “I was trying _so fucking hard_ to make my hair look good, so you wouldn’t peace out the second you saw me. This was _before_ I knew you were an early person.”

Daichi leans back in his seat and looks Kuroo over. He doesn’t know what the hell his hangup over his hair is about, because it looks good to Daichi. So dark and shiny and full of personality, which seems pretty appropriate given the guy it’s attached to. It’s the kind of hair you’d want to touch, the kind you’d be able to really tangle your fingers in.

“Oh God,” Kuroo says. “You’re studying me.”

Daichi blinks. He’s not just studying him, he’s getting very close to thinking about him in ways he definitely shouldn’t be yet.

“I like your hair,” he says, because it’s better than _I like the idea of pulling your hair while kissing that charming smile off your face._

“Oh,” Kuroo says again, lips rounding before smoothing into a new smile that is charming only because of how quiet and soft it is. “Really?”

Daichi looks at his own hands because Kuroo’s lips are a problem, and so is his voice, and he can feel the heat being pulled into his cheeks. “Yeah,” he says. “But it’s just hair. I wouldn’t call Suga to berate him for his poor matchmaking skills just because of someone’s hair.”

He risks a glance back up at Kuroo, and he’s smiling still, but it’s gone crooked again. Daichi already has the sense that Kuroo’s lips perfectly match his moods. He was vulnerable a second ago, and now he’s back to being playful.

“Tell me your deal breakers then,” Kuroo says.

Daichi can’t do this quite yet. Their server arrives and pours icy water for them before telling them the evening’s specials. Daichi doesn’t want him to come back and interrupt them again in a few minutes, so he orders right away, picking the first meal the server described, and Kuroo does the same.

“Do you know what we just ordered?” Kuroo asks.

“No,” Daichi says. “But I’ll eat anything, and I probably wouldn’t understand anything on the menu anyway.”

Kuroo laughs and leans forward conspiratorially. “Dude, I literally can’t even pronounce the name of this restaurant. Did you not pick it then?”

“ _No,_ Suga did. I thought you did at first, and _that_ was almost a deal breaker.”

When Kuroo laughs again he tilts his head back, and Daichi’s breath catches a little. Just because of how nice his face looks, with his eyes closed and his sharp cheekbones softening a little with his smile. And because of the pale length of his neck, and how Daichi can’t help adding that into his earlier mental image, with the hair pulling and the kissing.

“Okay, hit me with the rest of them. You’re way hotter than I let myself hope for, _and_ you’re an early person, so if I don’t have a shot I just wanna know now.”

Daichi almost chokes on his water, but he manages to set his cup back down and swallow properly with just a little bit of throat clearing. He doesn’t understand how someone as good looking as Kuroo—someone who carries himself with such grace, who smiles the way he did when he first came in, like he was completely in control—could possibly be worried about falling short. With _Daichi,_ of all people. There’s nothing special about him, and definitely some annoying things. He could easily hit all of Kuroo’s deal breakers on the head.

“What about yours?” he asks. “I want to know yours too.”

“Does that mean you want a shot with me?” Kuroo asks with his most annoying (cute, why the fuck is he so cute?) smile yet.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” Daichi says. He wants to tack a _dumbass_ onto that, and after a moment of consideration decides to go ahead and do it, because if Kuroo wants to know who he is, he might as well be himself. “Dumbass.”

Kuroo leans forward in his seat again, elbows resting on the table, long, beautiful fingers laced together in front of him. He doesn’t even blink at the insult.

“Animals are a must. If you don’t like animals, then—”

“I have two dogs, back at my parents’ place,” Daichi says. “As soon as I’ve saved enough I’m getting any house I can afford with a yard so they can live with me.”

“That’s it then,” Kuroo says. “People who don’t love animals are my only deal breaker.”

“Seriously? So I could be a lying douchebag who sells drugs on the side, and all of that would be okay with you if I also loved cats?”

Kuroo looks at him blankly for a few moments. “Let’s be realistic here, Sawamura. I think it’s fairly safe to assume that someone as savvy and non-douchey as Suga would not share an apartment with anyone that isn’t at least a _decent_ person, if not better.”

This is…a pretty good point. “Still,” Daichi says. “Nothing else?”

“Nothing I wouldn’t be open to trying to work with, if I really liked the person.”

“Huh.” Daichi really likes that answer.

“Your turn,” Kuroo says. “I’m getting the feeling your list is gonna be a whole lot longer.”

“No,” Daichi says, shaking his head. “I was kidding, about the restaurant being a deal breaker. I don’t even know what my deal breakers would be. I don’t spend a bunch of time thinking about what I _don’t_ want.”

“That’s fair,” Kuroo says. “What _do_ you want then?”

Daichi tells him, over a meal that is actually really delicious, considering the fact that at no point does he ever actually know what he’s putting in his mouth. And while he tells him the things he enjoys, the things he values, he finds that Kuroo shares a lot more of his interests than he expected. They don’t like the same genres, but they both love to read. He likes cycling, and Kuroo likes running, but they both feel alive when the sun is on their skin and their lungs are burning. They both love their best friends, and are driven completely insane by them.

“Bo has _zero_ understanding of basic privacy,” Kuroo says. “It took me _two months_ of living with him to train him to shut the goddamn door when he’s taking a shit.”

“Suga hid all my socks last week. Like, every single pair. I had to steal a pair of his to go to work and his feet are like three sizes smaller than mine.”

“Oh my God,” Kuroo laughs. “Where were they?”

“I don’t know! He balled them up and put them in the weirdest places, I’ve only found five so far.”

“Five pairs or five socks?”

“Five socks,” Daichi admits. “And they’re all slightly different colors.”

Kuroo laughs so hard at this that he snorts and slaps his hand on the table. They’re never going to be allowed in this restaurant again.  

“Maybe I’m being presumptuous,” he says, when he’s gotten a hold of himself and taken a slow sip of water. (Daichi can’t help fixating on the wetness that clings to his lips after. They’re really very nice lips. Full, and soft, and so inclined to smile.) “But I think we have to give Suga some props for his matchmaking skills. Or I do, anyway. I’m…really not disappointed.”

“Hm,” Daichi says, setting his chopsticks down. There’s still quite a bit of food left, but he agrees with Kuroo completely and wants to save it for Suga as a thank you. “Weird…since I haven’t enjoyed myself at all.”

“I can tell,” Kuroo says, straightfaced. “Haven’t laughed once.”

“There’s nothing funny about incompatibility, Kuroo-san,” Daichi says, and Kuroo’s smile breaks free once more.

“Want to go for a walk after this?” he asks. “There’s a good path just a few blocks over, it goes down by the river.”

“Yeah,” Daichi says, without even stopping to think. “Wait...let’s get a box for this stuff and drop it off for Suga, and then…yeah.”

“Good,” Kuroo says, and Daichi think it’s good too. He thinks this whole dating thing is maybe not nearly as bad as he thought, if it’s with the right person.

When the server returns, Daichi asks for a box, and soon the bill is paid and dinner is over. Daichi is barely even embarrassed by how glad he is that the date doesn’t have to end, too, or how eager he is for it to continue. He _is_ eager, dammit, and he doesn't care, because Kuroo suggested the walk, and Kuroo is looking at him with that smile, like he's just as interested in him as he is in Kuroo.

“Ready?” Kuroo asks. “The sky’s so clear tonight, maybe we can even see a few stars.”

“Oh God, wait,” Daichi says. “Are you going to casually but pretentiously point out constellations and try to impress me?”

“I absolutely am,” Kuroo says with a nod and not an ounce of shame. “Are you still in?”

He’s gotten to his feet and Daichi is faced with his whole height again. His narrow hips and the lean muscles that curve along his limbs.

“Yeah,” Daichi says, standing up and taking notice of the fact that Kuroo may be taller, but Daichi is broader, and maybe somehow this comes out to them being equally matched. And maybe it doesn’t really matter either way, because even if Kuroo is taller _and_ stronger, Daichi wants to find this trail with him and listen to his voice while he names the stars. “I’m in.”

Kuroo gives him another one of those smiles, the predatory kind that is just rakish enough to somehow be sweet at the same time. When he excuses himself to use the restroom before they leave, he squeezes Daichi’s shoulder, and while there’s something to be said for compatible interests and a shared sense of humor, there’s also a lot to be said for the electricity that zips down his spine at Kuroo’s touch. Probably even more to be said for having both.

He watches Kuroo walk away, laughs to himself when Kuroo looks over his shoulder and smirks when he finds Daichi’s eyes on him. Once the other man has disappeared into the restroom, he pulls his phone back out for the first time since Kuroo arrived.

 **Daichi:** why are you always right

 **Suga:** it is my cross to bear, daichi

 **Daichi:** yeah it really weighs on you  
**Daichi:** i like kuroo a lot

 **Suga:** (^ ω ^) i thought you would  
**Suga:** he is texting me currently, from the bathroom  
**Suga:** he’s being much more complimentary about my ability to always be right

 **Daichi:** he doesn’t have to live with you  
**Daichi:** (is he really? what’s he saying?)

 **Suga:** i’m not going to stroke your ego if you won’t stroke mine (⇀‸↼)

 **Daichi:** (눈_눈)

 **Suga:** (o˘◡˘o)

 **Daichi:** fine  
**Daichi:** i would be sad and lost without you and you know it, and i know it, and i forgive you for this expensive restaurant and this expertly tied tie that makes me feel like a child because i don’t know how to take it off  
**Daichi:** you are wise and perceptive and despite being a giant shit you’re the best and sweetest person i know  
**Daichi:** now please hurry up before he gets out of the bathroom

 **Suga:** <333  
**Suga:** i’ll teach you how to wrangle a tie and will not even mock you for having reached the age of twenty-three without once attempting to attain this skill  
**Suga:** Kuroo thinks you’re gorgeous and funny and he used about 200 words talking about your shoulders, so probably he hasn’t even peed yet and you still have some time

 **Daichi:** my shoulders?

 **Suga:** i was a little surprised he didn’t start with your legs as well, but you DO have very nice shoulders

 **Daichi:** thank you suga  
**Daichi:** not for your weird leg comment...just for, you know

 **Suga:** you’re welcome  <3 i’ll see you soon!

Kuroo comes out of the restroom before Daichi has a chance to respond, or to put his phone away.

“Oh no,” he says. “Don’t tell me you just put the panic-call in motion. The version where your friend calls with a fake emergency and you’re so sorry, you hate to do it, but you have to take off.”

“Good God, man,” Daichi says. “You need to stop watching these movies.”

“But they give my anxieties so much fodder,” Kuroo argues.

“Just what you need. I was texting Suga, to thank him.”

“Ah,” Kuroo says, falling into step beside Daichi as he heads for the door. “I may have done the same.”

“Hmm,” Daichi says. “He may have mentioned.”

Kuroo stops walking, and Daichi is extremely gratified to see the way his cheeks have filled with color. “He’s terrible,” he says when Daichi opens the door and they step through it together.

“He is,” Daichi agrees. “But…”

“Yeah,” Kuroo says, because here they are, walking close enough that they’re brushing against each other and doing nothing to stop it.

“Yeah,” Daichi repeats.

The moon is bright, Kuroo’s eyes are brighter, and he thinks forming a habit of agreeing to things like this might be a very good idea.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Find me [here](http://ellessey-writes.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr!


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